For an atheist, Maxim Schrogin talks about God a lot.

Over lunch at a Jewish deli, he ponders the impulse to believe — does it come from within or without? Why does God permit suffering? Finally, he pulls out a flowchart he made showing degrees of belief, which ranges from unquestioning faith to absolute atheism. He stabs the paper with his pen.

“This is where I fall,” he said. “Zero.”

This is religion without god. It still unnecessarily labels children.

Still, Schrogin, 64, is a dues-paying member of Congregation Beth El, a Reform synagogue here in Berkeley. He is among its most active members, attending Torah study, and, for a time, heading its social action committee. He organizes its community service projects and works with leaders of other congregations to help the poor.

His two children were bar and bat mitzvahed. On Friday nights, he and his wife light Shabbat candles and recite Hebrew prayers. There is one song, sung by the congregation in Hebrew, that can bring him to tears.

Schrogin isn’t alone. [Read More.]

It’s becoming more common for Jews not to believe the stories of the old testament but still choose to be involved in their local Jewish community. I get why someone would go to a holiday family/friends gathering but I don’t personally understand that much devotion to a single place of worship (synagogue).

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From gnostic to agnostic,  theist to atheist; there are many positions having to do with belief or possible knowledge of a belief. Gnostic and agnostic have to do with knowledge, while theist and atheist have to do with belief. Agnostic is not a mid point between atheism and theism.

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This study does not assert that a majority of atheists are high function autistic, rather that high functioning autistic people are more likely to be atheist. It’s also important to note that this is a correlation which, as we all know, does not imply causation.

People with ‘mild’ forms of autism are more likely to be atheists, according to a controversial new study – and more likely to shun organised religion in general.

The study, which looked at posts on autism forums, focused on people with high-functioning autism such as Asperger’s.

The study, from University of Boston, speculates that common autistic spectrum behaviours such as ‘a preference for logical beliefs’ and a distrust of metaphor and figures of speech, could be responsible.

The study authors, Catherine Caldwell-Harris and Patrick MacNamara studied discussions by 192 different posters on an autism website. They also looked at a survey of 61 people with high-functioning autism, and graphed against results from the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) test.

The results appeared to show that those with high AQ scores were ‘more likely’ to be atheists.

In the group of high-functionining autistic individuals, 26 per cent were atheists, compared to 16 per cent of ‘neurotypical’ individuals.

Read more.

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Seen this? “Everything I need to know about Islam I learned on 9/11”

Well, then, I could just as easily say: Everything I need to know about Christianity I learned from the crusades.

Islam has a lot of problem in it, as do all religions. Islam isn’t that much different, it’s only newer and there’s been no reformation. Hatred and violence are in the Bible just as the Koran. Don’t get me wrong, I do not defend Islam. I also don’t defend Christianity or Judaism.

However, Islam may be a bigger problem because its horrors from it are happening now. The crusades were 800-900 years ago. The doings of Islam are more prevalent in today’s world. While Islam is a bigger issue, if I said the latter, “Everything I need to know about Christianity I learned from the crusades,” there’d be a barrage of negative comments from Christians telling me why that “logic” is false.

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Not quite short and sweet enough while in the midst of sexual pleasure? ;)

I’ve been asked before what atheists say during sex. Sometimes, I guess someone could be trying to be funny but it can sound derogatory.

Why is saying your partner’s name in bed such a foreign idea to some? I may have uttered “oh god” at some point in my life; I can’t be certain. Though, I never actually thought I was talking to some “other-worldly” being. It was just a thing I said.

When I was younger I thought the phrase “might as well” was “mine as well” for a brief period (until I thought about it reasonably). People misuse phrases all the time. We just say things that are what they are: menial sayings.

If they are living according to the holy book(s) some purport to, they shouldn’t be enjoying sex anyway (at least in the Abrahamic religions). Does that mean they’d be silent? Or talk about the weather? I may have not always been an out atheist but I was surely skeptical of the claims made by religion. If I ever said “oh god”, it was just a thing to say.

Is “oh god” the only thing theists ever say during sex? Is this why people are so shocked about Anthony Weiner’s tame dirty talk?

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Anyway, here’s that Easter comic. ;)

Via

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“I don’t see us competing, because there’s so many options around here,” said Epstein, a dapper, charismatic, 34-year-old with a shaved head and stubble. “But I think this provides an option that is sorely needed. It provides additional bandwidth on the spectrum, a set of ideas that I think people are going to find very powerful.”

The core idea of humanism might be best summed up in the preface of Epstein’s book: that people can “lead good and moral lives without super-naturalism, without higher powers, without God.”

He continues:

“I think people are very hungry for community — one based not on material acquisition or consumption — that builds more on the contribution one gives outside the self,” Gregory said.

He added that he believes there’s a fundamental compatibility between humanism and Judaism. “Jews don’t believe in heaven or hell. We don’t know what comes after this world,” he said. “The Jewish tenet is, we make heaven a place on earth by helping each other. I see this center as taking that tenet and running with it.” [Read more]

Well, I can’t argue with helping each other. Here’s where a huge semantics war has a chance to come into play. It seems as though – to some – Judaism is evolving more into something like Buddhism or Universal Unitarianism, both of which do not require belief in a higher power. But, they are still religions, or at least ways of life. Where does the line get drawn? Does it matter? I personally am not a fan of religion, in most cases. I see the harm it causes. I see the wars that are carried out in the name of god or religion. Generally speaking, I see the enablers allowing this to go on because there were once elements of reason embedded into the fight that they can’t let go.

That stated, I certainly understand the need for neighbors and friends to get together, find a sense of community. There are many ways for people to get together. A wide range of Meetups and other gathering opportunities, where people can get together on the basis of just about anything. In any case, I don’t see how faded religious ties are necessary to build that community. But if they start there and travel to become something different, ending up doing good and spreading rational thought- eh-I can’t argue much. ;)

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Yesterday, I attended the Military Religious Freedom Foundation conference. It was graciously hosted by John Whiteside and featured Mikey Weinstein (above) from the MRFF. Simply stated, it was a great presentation.

And guessed who showed up? Penn Jillette and his wife (not pictured).

96% of the MRFF members are of a Christian religion (including Catholicism). 4% is “other”. Other meaning Atheists, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. Most of their members are Christian but are being told that they aren’t “Christian enough”. And, yes, this is in the United States! There are many members of MRFF and some politicians who speak to the MRFF choose to remain anonymous because of a possible backlash.

The fundamentalist Christians are making it a priority to convert our service men and women. Making our wars “God’s wars”, converting Atheists, Jews, Muslims, etc, and other Christians to – not just Christianity – but their version of Christianity. A version so extreme and heinous that it’s usually referred to as “fringe”.

How did we allow this extremist group control over our military and the minds of the politicians? It’s a small group in the America, probably smaller than atheists (definitely than ”nones”).

This type of proselytizing, and blurring the lines between church and state, is like spitting on the constitution. The fact that so many senators and congresspeople are afraid to protect the first amendment is gut-wrenching. I’m not new to this topic, but I didn’t realize how many people are willing to enable this behavior. No one’s afraid to protect the second amendment but they are the first? I don’t think the placement was coincidental. First, most important. Second, next. Not a difficult concept.

Just to be clear, Weinstein’s mission is not to remove religious expression in the military. It’s about superiors forcing it on subordinates. It’s not fair and it’s not right. And, sadly, it happens very often.

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